Reflections on Psalm 5:7

But I, by your great mercy,

will come into your house;

in reverence will I bow down

toward your holy temple.

The Holy Bible  : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ps 5:7

I don't think the majority of Christians today fully understand the mercy of God.  I am reminded daily of my sinfulness and just how unclean I am.  My uncleanliness prohibits me from being able to approach a Holy and Just God.  Just a few verses preceding this verse in Psalm 5:4, we are reminded that God is not a God that takes pleasure in evil nor One where evil can dwell.  I am absolutely unable to approach God because I am a wicked, evil person by nature.  I don't mean to be that way, but I am.  In fact, all of us are.  The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Indeed, we are but filthy rags before a pure and clean God.  Psalm 5:7 reminds me that by His great mercy, I can come into His presence.  His great mercy?  Wow.  What an understatement!  I am convinced that the older I get the more I recognize just how great is the mercy of God!  It seems that the harder I try to live a life of purity and holiness, the further I fall.  However, the great mercy of God is always prevalent and helps me to realize His love more and more.  In fact, the more I learn and experience the mercy and love of God, the more worshipful I become.  I am realizing the truth of the second half of this verse, "...will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple."  I learned a long time ago that I don't necessarily have to be in the house of God to worship Him.  I have been able to worship Him in many places- along a beach, in the woods, on a mountaintop, in my car, in my house, and many other countless places.  Even though there have been many places of worship I have been able to experience the Holiness of God, it always helps me to be among other believers who are experiencing in their walk the truth of this verse and have recognized just how great God's mercy is to us. Last week at an Advent service, we sang as a community of faith the beautiful Christmas song "O Holy Night."  For years I have felt that I needed to sing that song on my knees in reference to the line "fall on your knees, oh hear the angels' voices..."  As we sang this beautiful hymn, I was pleasantly surprised that many of the people of God in this particular service were on their knees with hands raised high.  I worshipped because they were worshipping.  As the old country preacher might say, "it was catchin'."  We need other believers to come along side us as the writer of Hebrews reminds us to "spur one another along."  We do need this.  However, there are times when I need to realize through my private worship that I have comprehension that Almighty God is great with His mercy and when I realize this, I must be reverent with my posture, my place, and the position of my mind.  In fact, as we have just started the hoopla of celebrating a New Year, I am recognizing that in my life I must worship more, not just on Sundays in a service, but I must worship more daily.  Part of my worship has been to commit to studying for a year the Book of Psalms.  Five days into this study, I am realizing just how great God's mercy is and already am I wanting and desiring to worship more. Wow!The best is yet to come!!